Cathedral Rock, part 3: To the Top and Back Down
Sedona Travelog #18
Oak Creek Village - Tue, 31 May 2022, 10:15am
I wrote my last blog from the top of Cathedral Rock. ...Well, almost the top of Cathedral Rock. There's a trail around the left side of the saddle that climbs higher, up through another chute, to the highest point you can reach on the rock without technical climbing gear (which I think is forbidden anyway).
The trail to the base of this chute looks like a dead end from the main part of the saddle. Those who explore it find more to hike. This chute does look forbidding from below... though anyone who's gotten to this point has already climbed 2-3 sections at least as tough as this. Why turn back now? With hands and feet I scrambled to the top.
It was quiet up here, as befits the perch's informal name: The High Cathedral. In the time I was up here I saw only 5 other hikers. Down at the main saddle dozens came and went.
Soon enough it was time for me to go back down there with them. I scrambled down the chute to the saddle, where Hawk was waiting. She'd tweaked her back on one of the lower chutes and wanted to save her remaining energy to get back down safely.
Descending the chutes was in some ways easier, in some ways harder, than ascending. Easier was that gravity was helping us down. We didn't have to lift and hoist our own body weights. Harder was that gravity was too eager to bring us down. We had to use arm and leg muscles to slow and steady our descent. But overall it was easier, particularly once we chose to scoot down on our butts.
The trail was starting to get crowded as the clock ticked toward 10am. Moments of solitude became scarce, so we took advantage when we found them.
How crowded did it get? Well, this picture (above) is from just after 10am and we're 5-10 minutes from the bottom of the trail. The trail looks like a parade route.... And this is a Tuesday morning!
Oak Creek Village - Tue, 31 May 2022, 10:15am
I wrote my last blog from the top of Cathedral Rock. ...Well, almost the top of Cathedral Rock. There's a trail around the left side of the saddle that climbs higher, up through another chute, to the highest point you can reach on the rock without technical climbing gear (which I think is forbidden anyway).
The trail to the base of this chute looks like a dead end from the main part of the saddle. Those who explore it find more to hike. This chute does look forbidding from below... though anyone who's gotten to this point has already climbed 2-3 sections at least as tough as this. Why turn back now? With hands and feet I scrambled to the top.
It was quiet up here, as befits the perch's informal name: The High Cathedral. In the time I was up here I saw only 5 other hikers. Down at the main saddle dozens came and went.
Soon enough it was time for me to go back down there with them. I scrambled down the chute to the saddle, where Hawk was waiting. She'd tweaked her back on one of the lower chutes and wanted to save her remaining energy to get back down safely.
Descending the chutes was in some ways easier, in some ways harder, than ascending. Easier was that gravity was helping us down. We didn't have to lift and hoist our own body weights. Harder was that gravity was too eager to bring us down. We had to use arm and leg muscles to slow and steady our descent. But overall it was easier, particularly once we chose to scoot down on our butts.
The trail was starting to get crowded as the clock ticked toward 10am. Moments of solitude became scarce, so we took advantage when we found them.
How crowded did it get? Well, this picture (above) is from just after 10am and we're 5-10 minutes from the bottom of the trail. The trail looks like a parade route.... And this is a Tuesday morning!